President's Party Frets About His Powers of Persuasion

By

Peter Nicholas and

Kristina Peterson

Updated April 23, 2013 9:23 p.m. ET

Unnerved by the defeat of the gun bill, some Democrats are growing pessimistic that President Barack Obama can muster the votes needed to pass large parts of his second-term agenda, unless voters change the makeup of Congress in the 2014 election.

Democratic strategists, lobbyists and some Capitol Hill aides see last week's defeat of the gun-bill amendments as a worrisome sign that Mr. Obama hasn't found a way to bridge the partisan...